Day-lock for time-lock-operated screw safe-doors.



c. E. BLECHSCHMIDT. DAY LOCK FOR TIME LOCK OPERATED SGREW SAFE DOORS.,

(Application fixed .Ian. 9, 1901.)

(No Model.)

mun

UNITED STAT P TENT OFFICE CHARLES E. BLECHSOHMIDT, OF BELLEVUE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR TO THE VIOTOR SAFE AND LOCK COMPANY, OF CINOINNATI, OHIO.

DAY-LOCK. FOR TIME-LOCK-OPERATED SCREW SAFE-DOORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 710.417, dated October 7, 1902.

Application filed January 9, 1901. Serial No. 42.637. (No model? Ilo roll 'whort it may con'ccr.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. BLECH- SCHMIDT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bellevue, Campbell County, State of Kentucky, have invented a certain new and useful Day Look for Time-Lock-Operated Screw Safe-Doors; and I do declare the following to he a full, clear, and exa'ct description of the invention, such as will enable otho ers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, attention being called to the accompanying drawings, with the refcrence-nnmerals marked thereon, which form also a part of this specification.

:5 This invention relatesto improvements in safes where the doors are automatically unlocked by a time-lock or other means operating to render the safe accessible after a certain predetermined length of time has elapsed zo after the closing of the door.

It relates more particularly to safes having circular doors, screwthreaded around their edges and adapted to close the opening for which they are intended by engaging a similar thread provided around such opening.

This screw engagement requires rotation of the door, for which reason this latter is supported accordingly. Bolts carried by it and adapted to enter into and occupy sockets when the door is fully screwed home prevent rotation necessary in reverse direction to unscrew the door. The withdrawal of such bolts proceeds automatically and is by the timelock Operating after a certain interval of time and during which the safe remains inaccessible. This interval of time comprises usually the hours between the close of business on one day and opening at the next, while during business-hours the safe usually remains open. There are often circumstances, however, which may render a temporary looking of the safe for shorter or longer time during these hours desirable. This would require the manipulation, winding, and setting ot' the time-lock in each case and also defer possibility of access to the particular time once set, all of which is objectionable at that time and for that particular purpose.

The object of my invention is therefore to provide means which permit the safe-door to be locked quickly and Conveniently at any time without requiring manipulation of the time-look, pernitting in the same manner the unlocking of the door at any time sooner or later thereafterand without having to depend onand wait for the exact moment as would otherwise be determined by the time-lock. This object is obtained by means pernittin looking of the rotary part of the door to the non-rotary part thereof, thcrehy preventing c the rotation of the door necessary to permit disengagement ofitsscrewconnection. These means must be and are independent of the time-lock-'operated bolts and intervenient mechanism.

- In the following specification, and particularly pointed out in the claim at the end thereof', is found a full description of the invention, together with its operation, parts, and construction, which latter is also illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figur-e 1 is a front elevation of' a safe closed by means of a screw-door and provided with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with parts broken away and the door shown partly in edge view and partly in section. Fg. 3 shows a front View of the safedoor with parts broken away and the door locked against rotation. Fig. 4 in parts of So the preceding figure shows the looking means in a position which permits rotation of the door. Fig. 5 is a detail view and shows an end View of the locking means. Fig 6 in a similar View shows a top View of these parts.

Thisinventionisintended tobe animprovenentby addition to such safe constructions with screwdoors as are illustrated in my prior patente, particularly No. 622,'753, issued on April 11, 1899, and in which construction a gear-train is used to rotate the door. The means for carrying out myinvention are therefore constructed with particular reference to the construction shown in these patents.

10 is the front of a safe of cu'stomary con- 5 struction provided with a eircnlar opening to receive the circular door ll. This door on its front side is provided with an outwardlyprojecting journal 12, fitted to occupy a bearing in a ring 13 and within which said door is capable of rotation. Both are carried on a c'ane-frame 14, to which they are pivotally IOO held by vertically disposed trunnions 15, which engage ring 13. Crane 14 is hinged at 16 to front 10 of the safe and provided with a handle 17, whereby the door may be swung to or from its opening. u

The circular side or edge of the door is in part tapering or conical and in part straight orcylindrical, the largest diameter of the door being at its outside, from where to about half its thickness inwardlyits diameter decreases on a taper, after which it continues again straight inwardly and at such reduced diameter for the balance of the thickness of the door. stepped off, as shown at 18, while the straight part is provided with a screw-thread 19, fitted to a similar thread within the door-opening. The parts are so arranged that rotation of the door when nearly closed causes the screwthreads to engage, and when such engagement has reached its limit the stopped part 18 has also reached its proper position and is' inclose fitand contactwith the similar stopped part of 'the door-opening, thus clos'ng this latter tightly. At that time bolts 21, oarried by the door, have also arrived opposite sockets within the door-opening of the safe-front, and at the moment rotation of the door ceases these bolts advance into and occupy such sockets. This prevents rotation of the door in reverse direction, and thereby looks the same against opening and access. The rota'- ,tion of the door is by means of a gear-train consisting of a co -wheel 22 and a pinion 23, which latter is seated on ring 13 and carries an outwardly-projecting key 24, fitted to the socketof a suitable crank-handle 25, used for manipulation while rotating the door. Gogwheel 22 is rigidly attached to the door by being connected to the face of journal 12,

' projecting therefrom, thereby transmitting the rotation received from pinion 23 to it', and by projecting over the non-rotary ring 13 it serves as a collar to hold journal 12 of the door in place in its hearing within said ring. The attachment of said oog-wheel is by means of a screw connection, and for centeringitit has a bore which receives acircular fiange or boss 26, projecting outwardly from journal 12.

The means Operating automatically and whereby the bolts are caused to so advance at the time when the door has been sorewed home and rotation ceases are not new and therefore not shown, nor are the means which operate to retract these bolts to permit rotation in reverse direction for unlocking and opening of the door. These latter means consist ofa time-lock which m ust be manipulated,

wound, and set every time the safe is to be locked, after which the action of this timelock must be awaited before access to the safe can be had; This renders the use of the time-lock inconvenient when the safe is to be locked only temporarilyand for indeterminate limited lengths of time during the day, and for such purpose and to' enable such looking I This tapering part of the periphery is,

have provided looking means whereby the safe-door may be locked in its closed position and -unlocked at any time thereafter independently of the time-lock. The means for doing such are also entirely independent from the means and intermediate mechanism operating in conjunction with the time-lock. The looking in this lat-ter case is, as before mentioned, by bolts 21, which prevent rotation of the door in reverse direction, necessary to unscrew it by lockingit to the adjacent parts of the safe-fron t. The means I provide also prevent such rotation,but do it by looking the rotory door to the non-rotary part thereof and by preventing rotation of the gear-train necessary to unscrew the door. For such purpose I lock the door to ring 13, which forms a part of it, being its support, but does not rotate therewith. The looking-bolt 27 I use for such purpose may be operated by any suitable i looking devices; but by preference I use a socalled combination-lock, being a permutable tumbler. Everything pertaining to these looking means is carried by and attached to the door, occupying a space or housing 28, obtained by reoessing the front of boss 26, while the end of bolt 27 extends into a guideway 29, cut partly into boss 26 and partly in the inner edge of gear-wheel 22, through the entire thickness of which it extends. This bolt 27 is so located as to be capable of meeting these two parts of its guideway, and it is of such depth as to project rearwardly beyond gear-wheel 22 and into a recess 31, cut into the face-that is, front side of ring 13 back of saidgear-wheel-when this recess is alined with the guideway. (See Fig. 5.) The bolt is thus-capable of simultaneously occupying these three recesses-that is, the two parts of its guideway in boss 26 and gearwheel 22 and recess 31 in ring 13-and which constitutes its looking position, recess 31 being its keeper, and since this latter is contained in ring 13, which is incapable of rotation, it is clear that the door is effectually locked against the rotation required to unscrew it. For unlocking, bolt 27 is retracted suffioiently to leave this recess, which forms its keeper within ring 13. For so moving the bolt any suitable lock mechanism may be used; but, as above stated, I prefer to use the customary permutation-lock consisting of a number of tumblers 32, the notches of which when alined by means of a handle 33 permit latch 34 to be engaged by said tumblers, after which the bolt may be moved. The alinement of the tumblers is after certain rules based on a combination of numbers known to the user and selected from the figures indioated by a dial 35 on the outside of the door. This dial is Secured to a cover 36, provided to inclose the gear-train and to improve the appearance of the safe. The parts of this lock are so arranged and located as to have keeper 31, bolt 27, and its guideway in alinement with each other when the door is fully screwed home and ready for looking or unlocking. By

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preference this position is also a horizontal one. To prevent the bolt from dropping out of its looking position during rotation of the door, I provide a stop 37, located in the path of a heel 33 on latch 34. The looking of the screw-door by these means proceeds quickly and Conveniently, also its unlocking, and this latter may be performed at any time after the looking and whenever required without having to await the operation of the time-lock. When so looking the door, the mechanical means Operating to automatically move bolts 21 into their looking position are of course inoperative. There is no connection of any kind, mechanical or otherwise, between the means comprising the two looking systems, and when closed and locked at night by the time-lock mechanism the knowledge of the oombination to move bolt 27 or any tampering with this latter would be of no availto aid in gaining access to the safe. Instead of being carried by the rotary part of the door this daylook might be applied to the stationary one, which, however, would be merely a reversion of location.

Having described my invention, I claim as new- In means for looking the rotary screw-door of a safe, the combination of a boss 12, forming the journal on which such a door is supported for rotation, a non-rotary ring 13 forming a hearing within which this journal is supported, a crane-frame 14 on which this ring is oarried, a handle 17 rigidly connected to this frame whereby the door is moved toward or fron the door-opening, a gear-wheel 22 rigidly connected in front of ring 13 to the face of boss 12 which projects from the door for rotating the same within ring 13, a boss 26 on which this gear-wheel is oentered, a pinion 23 on ring 13 in mesh with the gearwheel, a key 24 thereon intended to receive a detachable handle to rotate the pinion and near-wheel for purposes of rotating the door, recesses forming a combined boltway, one 29, partly in boss 26 of the door and partly in the inner edge of gear-wheel 22, the other 31 in the face, that is front side ofring 13 back of the gear-wheel, said recesses so located with reference to each other that the one in gearwheel 22 arrives in alinement over the recess in ring 13 at the time When the door is fully screwed home, a reoess 28 in boss 1-2 of the door, a bolt th erein adapted to occupy recess 29 and of such depth as to project also rearwardly through and beyond the thickness of.

gear-wheel 22 and into recess 31 in ring 13 so as to simultaneously occupy the same when alined with recess 29 in front of it, and lock' mechanism fixedly Secured within recess 28 of the door and whereby the bolt may be so moved into the alined recesses after which it prevents the rotation of the gear-wheel neces- -sary to unscrew the door by looking the same to the ring 13 and to boss 26 on the door.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES E. BLECHSCHMTDT.

YVitnesses:

C. SPENGEL, ARTHUR KLINE. 

